The three-day event attracted the participation of more than 200 lecturers and students from several technology universities in Hanoi such as the Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology, Thang Long University, Academy of Cryptography Techniques, University of Technology and Hanoi Open University.

Within the collaboration between Microsoft Vietnam and state telco VNPT since 2016 in three main areas of cloud computing, information security, and smart cities, this event was also the next step for the Information Security Contest which was successfully organised in May 2018 for university and college students by VNPT (VNPT SecAthon 2018).

The contest sought to raise awareness and promote learning and researching on information security.

The forum aims to raise awareness, develop skills in young people about information security and create career opportunities for students.

While participating in the forum, students had great opportunities to discuss with representatives of management agencies, organisations in the IT field and experts in information security in Vietnam about challenges and solutions.

They were also able to discuss career positions and career opportunities in information security. In particular, young people directly experienced the technology through the demonstration of solutions for information security from experts.

After the forum, more than 50 outstanding students who won prizes in the VNPT SecAthon 2018 competition will participate in intensive training held by Microsoft on security technologies on Windows and Azure, and analytical skills on decryption such as file format analysis, decompiling, identification and access to malicious code.

“With the commitment to sustainable development, besides building and supporting technology solutions, Microsoft is willing to join with other organisations in fostering young people to use technology responsibly, safely and effectively.

“We hope that in the future, Vietnam will become a provider of highly-qualified labourers in information security, not only for our country but also for many other countries around the world," said Pham The Truong, general director of Microsoft Vietnam

Huynh Quang Liem, VNPT deputy general director, said, “VNPT always respects and promotes the quality of human resources in IT, especially in information security. In particular, the group has always focused on building, recruiting, training and facilitating the staff: the future of VNPT.”

The programme was supported by the Ministry of Information and Communication - Department of Information Security, Vietnam Computer Emergency Response Team (VNCERT) and the Vietnam Information Security Association (VNISA).